City staff will apply for an agreement with Southern California Edison that would let the city upgrade 3,224 streetlights to LED lights.

The project would cost an estimated $1.2 million. Incentives and reimbursement would pay for $559,419 of the project, and the rest could be paid in installments with the city’s streetlight utility bill if the city is approved for “on-bill financing” with the utility, according to a staff report.

The LED lights are more energy-efficient and the city “will realize an annual savings in reduced electrical costs … and a decrease in streetlight maintenance costs,” according to the report. That savings could be about $100,000 in energy costs and $55,000 in maintenance over the lights’ 15-year lifespan.

Firm hired to look at environmental impact of hotel at Uptown Newport Village

The City Council on Jan. 12 authorized firm PlaceWorks to look at the environmental impacts of adding a 180-room hotel to the already-approved Uptown Newport Village mixed-use project at 4311 Jamboree Road.

Uptown Newport involved construction of 1,244 residences, 11,500 square feet of retail and two acres of park space. The city council approved the entitlements and environmental report for the project in Feb. 2013.

If a hotel was added to the project, it would have to head to the Planning Commission and City Council for review. The roughly $185,598 cost of the consulting service will be reimbursed by the applicant, according to a staff report.

Arts Commission gets go-ahead to raise funds

The City Council voted Jan. 12 to waive one of its policies so Arts commissioners can fundraise for arts projects throughout the city.

Councilmembers had asked commissioners in the past to start exploring public-private partnerships and fundraising for arts programming and projects like the sculptures in Civic Center Park, the concert series outside the Civic Center or Shakespeare by the Sea performances.

The City Council would get final say in how any money would be spent, not the Arts Commission.